


Of Falling Skies and Great Men

by Cerch



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alexander the Great!Arthur, Alternate Universe - Historical, Established Relationship, Jealous Merlin, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-19
Updated: 2014-01-19
Packaged: 2018-01-09 05:32:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1142063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cerch/pseuds/Cerch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>They answered that they feared nothing except that the sky might fall down on them, but that they honoured a friendship of a man like him more than anything. </i> - Strabo (quoting Ptolemy I)</p>
<p>Wherein Arthur is Alexander the Great and Merlin might just be frighteningly powerful.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Falling Skies and Great Men

**Author's Note:**

> Keltoi is the Greek word for the Celts.
> 
> This fic was written late at night in a desperate attempt to avoid chemistry, while convincing myself that this totally counted as studying for my Celtic studies exam. Despite this I wouldn't urge anyone to look to this fic for any kind of historical accuracy.
> 
> Alas, I have no beta, but I hope this is mostly free of mistakes.

 

_Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, says that during this campaign some Celts living near the Adriatic arrived seeking good will and friendship. Alexander received them warmly and while they were sharing a drink asked them what they feared the most, thinking they would say him. They answered that they feared nothing except that the sky might fall down on them, but that they honoured a friendship of a man like him more than anything._

\- Strabo

The last of Arthur’s generals was lingering, sending disgustingly adoring looks towards his sovereign. It was particularly disgusting because the general (he had a name but Merlin hadn’t deigned to remember it) was probably almost twice Arthur’s age and was supposed to be a hardened warrior and not some lovesick, swooning maiden.

Not that Merlin could exactly blame the general. Even in the dim light of the tent Arthur shone golden, showing off his perfectly sculpted body that could have belonged to a god or at least a hero of the ancient world. But Arthur was Merlin’s, others to admire from afar but only Merlin’s to touch.

“My lord Alexander, might we exchange a word in private?” the general enquired, with a dismissive nod to Merlin’s direction. Merlin scowled back darkly and Arthur gave him an amused smile. Slowly he glided forward from behind the table where he had been sitting during the council. He might have called the shadows forward just a little to enforce the effect.

“I’m afraid there are matters I must discuss with his highness, general.” He stopped at Arthur’s side but leaned towards the general a little with a sharp smile. “ _Privately._ ”

The general blanched, his eyes flickering to the moving shadows on the tent’s walls, and took a step back towards the doorway. He smirked in satisfaction as the general stammered his apologizes and almost ran out. He felt a little guilty at how much he enjoyed scaring Arthur’s generals, but if fear was the only respect they were willing to give him he was going to take it. Arthur was the only one who mattered, and Arthur respected and trusted him. And apparently also laughed at him.

When he met Arthur’s laughing eyes he couldn’t help the hot blush that crept up his body and stained his cheeks. He thought it rather ruined the fearsome and mysterious warlock aura he was trying to project, but then again they were finally alone. He dropped the shadows with a sheepish shrug.

Gently, Arthur aligned their bodies together and lifted Merlin chin so that their noses were almost touching.

“Merlin,” he breathed, but Merlin cut any reassurances and mocking short by going in for a harsh kiss. Arthur’s amused chuckle turned into a moan as he yielded to Merlin’s demanding lips. Their bodies fit together perfectly, like they had been made for each other and Merlin almost purred at the hot pleasure spreading through him. Arthur was his and he was Arthur’s and nobody should never ever even entertain thoughts about anything else.

 

 Arthur was just pushing Merlin’s robes away from his shoulder and doing unspeakably lovely thing to his collarbone when a voice interrupted them, making them jump apart. Luckily the messenger hadn’t been stupid enough to actually enter the tent, but Merlin contemplated cursing him into a screeching monkey all the same.

“My lord, the _keltoi_ have sent a party of envoys to greet you.”

“Accommodate them, I’ll be there shortly,” Arthur said with an annoyingly composed voice, before stepping back into Merlin’s embrace, his arousal hot against Merlin’s own.

 

xxx

 

The feast was splendid despite the fact that they were far away from the joys of civilisation. There was mead, stories of heroic deeds and even good natured wrestling. Arthur loved it all and Merlin wasn’t going to deny that he enjoyed watching the half-naked bodies of the _keltoi_ writhing against each other.

Merlin suspected that Arthur took most of his enjoyment from the flattery. The _keltoi_ indulged in it without a shame and his own men let their hero worship shine more with every cup they drained. But the envoys also praised their own people, telling tales about their fearlessness, which seemed to fascinate Arthur.

“What is it that you fear then?” he asked and Merlin knew he expected them to say him. It was not an assumption born of delusion; they were a great army at the border of their lands and they would have been fools not to fear the power of Alexander the Great.

One of the envoys turned to look at Merlin, and Arthur followed his gaze.

“That the sky will fall upon us,” he said and then smiled at Arthur who was still looking at Merlin with shadowed eyes. “But we value the friendship of great men above all else,” he added, making Arthur throw his head back and bellow in laughter, Merlin forgotten. The darkness reared its ugly head inside him and he let himself slip away to his private tent.

Arthur did not seek him out after the feast and Merlin pushed the hurt away with vigour. He knew Arthur couldn’t flaunt their relationship by creeping to his tent in the middle of the night. Merlin was the one who could have gone to him. He didn’t.

 

xxx

 

The _keltoi_ left on the next day. Merlin stood behind Arthur’s shoulder as they exchanged their farewells on a treeless hill. Merlin couldn’t help but feel that their gazes lingered on him both curious and mistrustful, and stayed quiet and stoic in the background, trying to focus on counting the petals of the flowers on his feet.

When they disappeared into the trees, Arthur sent their guards back to the camp, face unreadable.

“Could you really do it?” he asked when they were alone.

Merlin briefly contemplated playing dumb, but he knew that it would not get him out of this. He looked at the sky, taking in the bright, breath-taking blue and the painfully white clouds so very far above them and felt for the power brimming all around him.

“Probably,” he finally breathed quietly, refusing to seek Arthur’s face.

Most days he avoided thinking about the limits of his power and most days he didn’t care if people feared him. As long as Arthur trusted him he didn’t need to fear himself, and he couldn’t bear the thought that maybe there had been a sleeping spark of fear inside Arthur all along. A spark that had now caught fire, revealing his darkness to them both.

“Not very practical,” Arthur said and smiled widely as Merlin whirled to face him. There was no fear in his eyes, just warmth and trust – and something very closely resembling love.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed. Kudos and comments make me happy.


End file.
